1059 replies to this topic

[ThroughWithLove]

Ino was still in love with Sasuke during the war and during the LOI arc, so I don't see how she's evolved more compared to Sakura.

 

It's debatable, but the point is that she lost more and ultimately managed to get over fangirling Sasuke (which was a detriment to both her and Sakura's character) as we can see from the epilogue

Edited by ThroughWithLove, 23 November 2014 - 02:27 PM.

[Nar123]

 
It's debatable, but the point is that she lost more and ultimately managed to get over fangirling Sasuke (which was a detriment to both her and Sakura's character) as we can see from the epilogue

She didn't lost it she actually married the carbon copy of Sasuke

Edited by Nar123, 23 November 2014 - 02:31 PM.

[Swagkura]

It's debatable, but the point is that she lost more and ultimately managed to get over fangirling Sasuke (which was a detriment to both her and Sakura's character) as we can see from the epilogue

I guess, even though her IT dream had her dreaming about both Sasuke & Sai fighting over her. Still pretty fan girlish, but hey, she chose Sai in the end, so it's whatever.

[luffyq1]

the sakura in chapter 699 was not sakura. one chapter simply can't make me forget all of the years worth of accomplishments she's made. sure it gives a bad impression considering that it was the last chapter, but i'm not dwelling on it because my fav character was not portrayed accurately in those chapters as she has in the past.

 

anyway, have some sakura for whatever fans of hers that are still left:

 

Edited by luffyq1, 23 November 2014 - 02:46 PM.

[ramenanmitsu]

I hate this thread. Because people only judge Sakura based on who she ended up with. As if, her ending with someone they didn't wish completely destroys her 698 chapters of accomplishments.

Yes, her character regressed in 699 onwards. But for 698 chapters she saved a lot of people, became a Kage level shinobi, and supported Naruto through everything.

And Ino evolving more than Sakura? So Ino had character development because she lost to Sakura in regards to Sasuke and went for the rebound named Sai? Give me a break.

Edit: Gosh Luffy did you read my mind!?

Edited by ramenanmitsu, 23 November 2014 - 02:50 PM.

[ThroughWithLove]

Ino is a kitten character. Don't get me wrong. However, I'm not of the mind to pick and choose what the author gives me, no matter how much I want to. Thus, I'm forced to observe Sakura throughout the entirety of the manga. When we look at her from the perspective Kishimoto and his assistant have told us to look at her in, I am forced to conclude that she too is a bland character. I'm forced to conclude that every reason we've been given to think otherwise was simply coincidental, a red herring or has been outright retconned. Is Ino dreaming about Sai and Sasuke fighting over her pathetic? Demonstrably so. But as pathetic as it is, she is less pathetic than Sakura in that she managed to do the one thing Sakura couldn't do; she got over fangirling Sasuke, the biggest detriment to Sakura's character since day one. That may make Ino a "terrible person" in Kishimoto-sama's eyes, but It is what it is.

Edited by ThroughWithLove, 23 November 2014 - 03:06 PM.

[ramenanmitsu]

Ino is a kitten character. Don't get me wrong. However, I'm not of the mind to pick and choose what the author gives me, no matter how much I want to. Thus, I'm forced to observe Sakura throughout the entirety of the manga. When we look at her from the perspective Kishimoto and his assistant have told us to look at her in, I am forced to conclude that she too is a bland character. I'm forced to conclude that every reason we've been given to think otherwise was simply coincidental, a red herring or has been outright retconned. Is Ino dreaming about Sai and Sasuke fighting over her pathetic? Demonstrably so. But as pathetic as it is, she is less pathetic than Sakura in that she managed to do the one thing Sakura couldn't do; she got over fangirling Sasuke, the biggest detriment to Sakura's character since day one. It is what it is.

So you're basing the characters on Kishi's asspull interview instead of the previous 700 chapters? If that's the case I guess you'll judge that NH had the most development based on Kishi's interview.

So I get what you mean. You're talking about the part of Sakura's romantic development NOT her whole development am I right? In that case I agree that it was pathetic. However comparing with Ino based on your assumptions isn't really convincing. Because we have no idea if Ino moved on from Sasuke or is just dating Sai as a replacement due to him being similar to him. Failing to achieve something bad doesn't make it better. It's like saying murderer A is worse than murderer B because A had a 98% success rate compared to incompetent murderer B who had a 80% success rate.

Edited by ramenanmitsu, 23 November 2014 - 03:18 PM.

[MistFlower]

I just can't get over how Kishi is trying to tell us that Naruto ended his feelings for Sakura right after the Pain Arc.  Like...lol yeah. Naruto's reaction to Sakura's confession, him telling Sai that he pretty much loved her, Sai telling Sakura Naruto loved her, all the MinaKushi parallel stuff, him calling her his freaking girlfriend to his father...

 

But yeah, no.  It all ended at the Pain Arc. Yep.

 

Seriously not understanding how other people, who aren't even NS fans, don't have a problem with this.  There is just so much inconsistency...just wow. 

Edited by MistFlower, 23 November 2014 - 03:20 PM.

[Narufan85]

I hate this thread. Because people only judge Sakura based on who she ended up with. As if, her ending with someone they didn't wish completely destroys her 698 chapters of accomplishments.

Yes, her character regressed in 699 onwards. But for 698 chapters she saved a lot of people, became a Kage level shinobi, and supported Naruto through everything.

And Ino evolving more than Sakura? So Ino had character development because she lost to Sakura in regards to Sasuke and went for the rebound named Sai? Give me a break.

Edit: Gosh Luffy did you read my mind!?

 

Sakura was awesome for a lot of the manga. But it's so hard to divorce those awesome moments from the way Kishi depicted her in the end. Not just the complete destruction of her character in 699 & 700, but for much of those final moments when Kishi continually kept framing her growth in the context of her feelings for Sasuke. It's almost like he kept trying to pound us over the head with the fact that the only thing important was who she loved and in what way.

And for me, I have trouble resolving those last chapters not just because she ended up with Sasuke, but because we were denied any closing interaction between her and Naruto, the person she purported to want to stand beside and support en route to his dream. So it's not just that she ended up with Sasuke, but the way in which she does; completely ignoring her other teammate that has stood beside her and supported her.

That's hard to forget.

[ramenanmitsu]

Sakura was awesome for a lot of the manga. But it's so hard to divorce those awesome moments from the way Kishi depicted her in the end. Not just the complete destruction of her character in 699 & 700, but for much of those final moments when Kishi continually kept framing her growth in the context of her feelings for Sasuke. It's almost like he kept trying to pound us over the head with the fact that the only thing important was who she loved and in what way.
And for me, I have trouble resolving those last chapters not just because she ended up with Sasuke, but because we were denied any closing interaction between her and Naruto, the person she purported to want to stand beside and support en route to his dream. So it's not just that she ended up with Sasuke, but the way in which she does; completely ignoring her other teammate that has stood beside her and supported her.
That's hard to forget.

I also have a hard time resolving those last chapters because Kishi made it OOC for the sake of the movie. For me, the canon Sakura was the one who had supported Naruto with her life. She was the one who worked the most to support him and his dream to become Hokage next to Naruto himself.

Naruto and Sakura in the last chapters, they aren't the people the previous chapters built them up to be....and I will not judge them based on the forced characterization that has no foundation other than to fit the movie.

[Nar123]

 
Sakura was awesome for a lot of the manga. But it's so hard to divorce those awesome moments from the way Kishi depicted her in the end. Not just the complete destruction of her character in 699 & 700, but for much of those final moments when Kishi continually kept framing her growth in the context of her feelings for Sasuke. It's almost like he kept trying to pound us over the head with the fact that the only thing important was who she loved and in what way.

And for me, I have trouble resolving those last chapters not just because she ended up with Sasuke, but because we were denied any closing interaction between her and Naruto, the person she purported to want to stand beside and support en route to his dream. So it's not just that she ended up with Sasuke, but the way in which she does; completely ignoring her other teammate that has stood beside her and supported her.

That's hard to forget.

She was side lined after the Sai/sasuke arc
It would be cool if Sakura did some genjutsu training while naruto was doing the fuuton training. Afterwards She didn't had any important fight (only that juubi one, but everybody fought against it)

So in my opinion battle wise her character was missing something too

It would be cool for example if she ended up fighting against Konan during konoha's invasion

Edited by Nar123, 23 November 2014 - 04:09 PM.

[Narufan85]

I also have a hard time resolving those last chapters because Kishi made it OOC for the sake of the movie. For me, the canon Sakura was the one who had supported Naruto with her life. She was the one who worked the most to support him and his dream to become Hokage next to Naruto himself.

Naruto and Sakura in the last chapters, they aren't the people the previous chapters built them up to be....and I will not judge them based on the forced characterization that has no foundation other than to fit the movie.

 

I think that's the only approach to take unless your a SS fan who only cares about Sakura insofar as her having Sasuke's babies. She was such a strong, awesome character that was chronically mistreated, as Nar123 said, after the Sai/Sasuke arc. Flashes of greatness and potential crushed by her role in the shipping wars.

And you are so right, 699 & 700 is so absurdly OOC.

[NaruSaku fan in Kentucky]

699-700 doesn't exist in my eyes. In my eyes in the ending she became a medic, married Naruto the hokage and had Shinachiku.

[Aizen-Sama]

My two main reasons that I preferred NaruSaku>NaruHina were that . . .

1. It felt like it was the only way to save Sakura from being a bland character.
2. I loathe the shy girl stock character. And Hinata was very much a stock character through most of the series.

Sakura is the female lead by default so you come to have high expectations of her, but talk about putting someone on a pedestal. What are her defining moments in the series? She cut her hair to prove that she would start taking the ninja life seriously, but the only moment where she gets to prove herself is against Sasori. For pete's sake, despite promising to do so, she doesn't even help bring Sasuke back.

She started as a Sasuke fangirl and went through a lot of emotional turmoil and development that amounted to her being a Sasuke fangirl. This will not make no sense whatsoever to male readers. Female readers will probably be more impacted by Sakura's plight on an emotional level and actually understand how deeply she loves Sasuke. Male readers look at Sakura's problem and we can't help but undermine it, because it's ridiculous. Guys very rarely yearn for lost love. I'm sorry, but the love of your life betrayed our village and has been going on a killing spree. Stop being ridiculous, there's a nice boy right over there named Naruto that loves you with all his heart and isn't psycho. There. Problem Solved.

If I had to venture a guess, I would say that there are not nearly as many SasuSaku male supporters as there are female supporters. It's a little too Twilight.

But because Sakura started as a Sasuke fangirl and ended as a Sasuke fangirl, most are going to look at that and say Sakura didn't develop in any way whatsoever. She is still a 12 year old girl yearning for Sasuke. It comes off as though she has had no actual character growth whatsoever.

What's worse, in spite of their rivalry with one another, you're left feeling that Ino, who was Sakura's rival, actually evolved more as a character than Sakura. Ino lost her sensei and her dad, got over her fangirling for Sasuke, and although not necessarily stronger, Ino became a better all-around ninja. Debatable I know. But in many ways Ino became everything that most fans hoped Sakura would become. Ino was a better Sakura than Sakura. Scary, I know.

Putting Sakura with Naruto is really just a last ditch effort at finding a reason to validate her purpose for being a part of the manga, because at the very least it might be the ultimate underdog love story come true. But that didn't happen....so...basically...the female lead of this series is completely and utterly pointless. She's pretty much there to be Sasuke's eventual love interest.

Yeah I truly feel that Sakura realizing Naruto's love and reciprocating his feelings was supposed to be her final development.
It would prove so drastically how a woman could change and would've had a great moral message.

[Bryon_Konoha_Ninja]

My two main reasons that I preferred NaruSaku>NaruHina were that . . .

1. It felt like it was the only way to save Sakura from being a bland character.
2. I loathe the shy girl stock character. And Hinata was very much a stock character through most of the series.

Sakura is the female lead by default so you come to have high expectations of her, but talk about putting someone on a pedestal. What are her defining moments in the series? She cut her hair to prove that she would start taking the ninja life seriously, but the only moment where she gets to prove herself is against Sasori. For pete's sake, despite promising to do so, she doesn't even help bring Sasuke back.

She started as a Sasuke fangirl and went through a lot of emotional turmoil and development that amounted to her being a Sasuke fangirl. This will not make no sense whatsoever to male readers. Female readers will probably be more impacted by Sakura's plight on an emotional level and actually understand how deeply she loves Sasuke. Male readers look at Sakura's problem and we can't help but undermine it, because it's ridiculous. Guys very rarely yearn for lost love. I'm sorry, but the love of your life betrayed our village and has been going on a killing spree. Stop being ridiculous, there's a nice boy right over there named Naruto that loves you with all his heart and isn't psycho. There. Problem Solved.

If I had to venture a guess, I would say that there are not nearly as many SasuSaku male supporters as there are female supporters. It's a little too Twilight.

But because Sakura started as a Sasuke fangirl and ended as a Sasuke fangirl, most are going to look at that and say Sakura didn't develop in any way whatsoever. She is still a 12 year old girl yearning for Sasuke. It comes off as though she has had no actual character growth whatsoever.

What's worse, in spite of their rivalry with one another, you're left feeling that Ino, who was Sakura's rival, actually evolved more as a character than Sakura. Ino lost her sensei and her dad, got over her fangirling for Sasuke, and although not necessarily stronger, Ino became a better all-around ninja. Debatable I know. But in many ways Ino became everything that most fans hoped Sakura would become. Ino was a better Sakura than Sakura. Scary, I know.

Putting Sakura with Naruto is really just a last ditch effort at finding a reason to validate her purpose for being a part of the manga, because at the very least it might be the ultimate underdog love story come true. But that didn't happen....so...basically...the female lead of this series is completely and utterly pointless. She's pretty much there to be Sasuke's eventual love interest.

 

DUDE, YOU ARE A BLOODY GENIUS TO BE ABLE TO GET THIS ALL DOWN!! Even if Ino hadn't overcome her feelings COMPLETELY for Sasuke, she still did mature a good bit over time.

[sonicsucks]

Lol at saying Kishimoto destroyed her character and ruined her. kitten achieved everything she ever has wanted cannon wise. She is still probably Kage level and successfully surpassed her master and in proxy everything relating to medical ninjutstu; in addition she pretty much more powerful and stronger than all her fellow female peers which means she's the strongest kunoichi in the world another title her former master held on to and probably passed on to.

Regardless of those accomplishments, her main goal was first and foremost was her love for Sasuke to be returned and to save him and Naruto. All those other feats in the former post were irrelevant, Sakura is the only person on team 7 to had achieved a secondary profession and field as a bonus and still achieved her main goal. She didn't have to be the next Tsunade or neo sanin to get Sasuke and be more useful she could have gotten Sasuke's love another way or helped team 7 another way.

Naruto and Sasuke achieved less than her, Naruto despite being the worlds hero and hokage, has failed to save neji and didn't make Sasuke stay in the village to become sorta like what Shikamaru is.

Sasuke got it worse and is basically exiled with a wife and child who he barely sees due too atonement and guilty and he failed to succeed in bringing his own since of change in the naruto world and is known as a mystery rather than a legendary hero like Naruto or Kakashi or maybe Sakura too.

[Nar123]

Lol at saying Kishimoto destroyed her character and ruined her. b*tch achieved everything she ever has wanted cannon wise. She is still probably Kage level and successfully surpassed her master and in proxy everything relating to medical ninjutstu; in addition she pretty much more powerful and stronger than all her fellow female peers which means she's the strongest kunoichi in the world another title her former master held on to and probably passed on to.

Regardless of those accomplishments, her main goal was first and foremost was her love for Sasuke to be returned and to save him and Naruto. All those other feats in the former post were irrelevant, Sakura is the only person on team 7 to had achieved a secondary profession and field as a bonus and still achieved her main goal. She didn't have to be the next Tsunade or neo sanin to get Sasuke and be more useful she could have gotten Sasuke's love another way or helped team 7 another way.

Naruto and Sasuke achieved less than her, Naruto despite being the worlds hero and hokage, has failed to save neji and didn't make Sasuke stay in the village to become sorta like what Shikamaru is.

Sasuke got it worse and is basically exiled with a wife and child who he barely sees due too atonement and guilty and he failed to succeed in bringing his own since of change in the naruto world and is known as a mystery rather than a legendary hero like Naruto or Kakashi or maybe Sakura too.

You are obviously a troll haha
Don't feed the troll

[Khaleesi]

Llmao, we know all that. What happened in 699 and 700 doesn't dismiss all her achievements, but she's still ruined character-development-wise.

And be reduced to a house wife? and HER? I mean, you can be a house wife and be still awesome badass and kick asses but there is 2 problems:

 

1) That is supossed to be "the last time" we see them all, so the scenes are supossed to represent, summarize and indicate what are they and what are ging to do in the rest f their lifes

2) Her nails are LONG. Tell me she's being badass, kicking asses and destroying cities with one punch with those long and perfect nails. 

[Bryon_Konoha_Ninja]

Sakura is one of my favorite females in the Naruto universe since she is so well developed. Sure, I wasn't sure what to think of her at first, but the fact she'd grow from being the fangirl over Sasuke for no good raisins to such a skilled kunoichi says a lot. Plus I loved how her growth for falling in love with Naruto was so... genuine, ya know? Like they were meant to be together, but it took her so long to see it for herself....

 

Plus she's quite pretty, especially in Shippuden and the ending, even if the ending kittened her up!

[questdrivencollie]

Same. She crept her way into place as my favorite female character.

 

I always felt that her crush on Sasuke held her back development-wise. How is it realistic to still "love" the guy you had a crush on at 12, especially when it was portrayed the way it was in part one? (While the same could conceivably be said of Naruto's crush on Sakura, it was portrayed differently. Even in part one, it wasn't a shown as a selfish love with some ridiculous notion of "omg tru lurv!!!" tacked onto it. Plus the idea of falling in love with somebody because you spent time with each other and grew close, as we see with Naruto and Sakura in part two, is more realistic than loving someone you barely know.)

I don't think Kishi ever did a very good job on that aspect of her character, but it honestly looked like she was falling in love with Naruto--which would have been a better development seeing as he treated her totally different than Sasuke ever did.

 

Sakura is still my favorite female character from Naruto.

Edited by questdrivencollie, 30 November 2014 - 05:28 AM.